Being tested for traces of being Welsh, Jock or Bogtrotter on your return from abroad?
Don’t blame the BoJo and Hancock circus, blame Tony Bliar and decisions made years ago in order to pacify the revolting regions!
“Everyone's moaning about the confusing and different Coronavirus quarantine rules across the UK, but no-one's pointing at the root cause - devolution itself.
This pandemic has put the spotlight on certain failures of devolution in the UK.
Right now someone could return from a trip to Portugal, and depending on where they live in the UK, they might be required to spend 14 days in quarantine.
And people are asking questions like, what if I land in Bristol, then go to my home to Cardiff by car?
And those affected point at Westminster and say it's all their fault.
But Westminster doesn't decide on quarantine rules for the devolved regions.
Those regions decide the quarantine rules for themselves.
And that's what the people in those devolved regions voted for. Yes, it's what they wanted.
They voted for that difference.
So we end up with the spectacle of certain politicians grandstanding every day to try and display their wares as the great statesperson where COVID is concerned.
With certain regional politicians doing things differently to show independence of political thought and action.
Well, independence from Westminster and doing things differently to London being the main factors anyway.
If the devolved assemblies want to wag their own tails, they cannot expect England to be wagged by them as well.
And you do have to question whether it's politics or the health of the people that is the main driver here.
Without devolution on such a scale, the rules would apply across the UK, taking all factors into account. One set of rules - clarity for all.
And not just where quarantine from foreign travel is concerned, but also from rules over face coverings and gatherings of people too.
With the only difference being locally imposed hot-spot restrictions.
But with devolution, the response from each area will be different as different criteria apply and different politics dictate that response.
And that includes different responses to hot-spots too.
And you think it's bad in the UK, have you checked out all the different rules inside the supposedly internally borderless European Union?
Now some may see these different responses within the UK as a good thing, but many travellers find them confusing and irritating.
And all driven by devolution and the requirement for each devolved region to act differently.
Now, a warning here for England.
There had been plans to break England up by devolving more power to the regions - like the nine EU MEP constituency regions.
Can you imagine if every one of those had the same sorts of powers as the devolved authorities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
And I would imagine that the pro-EU set in the UK would quite like that to happen. Easier to get us back in.
The English should not allow these sorts of barriers to be erected across their country.
At the end of the day, if you want devolution and power, with these big decisions being made closer to you, then expect more and more of these sorts of things to keep cropping up as time goes on.
It's not confusion - it's devolution!
And if you don't like it, either lump it, or vote to get rid of your devolved assembly or vent your spleen on the decision-maker - which is your devolved assembly, not Westminster.
Confused by UK Coronavirus quarantine rules? Blame devolution!”
